John Stewart Spencer

Associate Professor, leprosy researcher, Colorado State University
My research focus is mainly on the bacterium that causes leprosy in humans, Mycobacterium leprae, for over 20 years. I have been working with leprosy clinicians and researchers in Brazil during this time, writing grants to help fund their surveillance and research activities in schoolchildren and household contacts diagnosed with this disease. Brazil is one of the top 3 countries in the world for new case detection, currently around 25,000 new cases per year, compared to the U.S. that has <200 cases per year. We are trying to develop a simple and rapid test that will help to diagnose cases early so that individuals can be treated before developing nerve damage, disfigurement and disability common with this disease. As a result of my work on leprosy in the Amazon region of Brazil with my collaborators, I received a Fulbright Scholar award to Brazil in 2015-2016. Recently, our group published results showing that leprosy is a zoonotic infection in armadillos in the state of Para in the Brazilian Amazon region and is being transmitted to humans, similar to what has been shown to occur between armadillos and humans in the southern U.S. Understanding the extent of infection in these wild animals and the level of interaction between armadillo and human populations is important to clarify the relative risk that nonhuman reservoirs have in the transmission of this and perhaps other tropical diseases and may help improve strategies to combat leprosy.

Leprosy is an ancient disease, the oldest disease known to be associated with humans, with evidence of characteristic bone pitting and deformities found in burial sites in India as far back as 2000 B.C.
Its thus only...

Bank Indonesia (BI) is expected to remain on hold at its monetary policy meeting, scheduled to be held on December 20 and instead focus on addressing the liquidity situation, according to the latest research report from...

The Japanese government bonds traded mixed on Wednesday after investors were disappointed by the worse-than-expected trade balance data for the month of November, released early today. Investors will now focus on the Bank...

Australian government bonds were scarred by a fall in investors risk appetite as concerns over a slowdown in global economic growth groped market sentiments, pushing participants towards safe-haven buying.
Further to...

The U.S. Treasuries climbed during late afternoon session Tuesday as investors sought safe-haven investments amid growing worries over a global economic slowdown as equities turned red towards the end of this year ahead of...

The United Kingdoms gilt yields came under pressure during Tuesdays afternoon session, as investors remained jolted by concerns over a global economic slowdown after equity markets took a hit worldwide ahead of Britains...

As the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump is expected to worry about many things concerning the initiatives and advocacies that her office supports. However, a recent report claims that she is also preoccupied...

Misinformation via social media was probably the main winner in Brazils October 2018 election, playing a troubling role in boosting far-right Congressman Jair Bolsonaro to presidency.
Bolsonaro did not win 55 percent of...

Infant mortality is on the rise in the UK, while life expectancy for both men and women has stalled and is even dropping in some areas. In 2017, the number of homeless families and individuals placed in temporary...

As the entrails of the era under South Africas former president Jacob Zuma continue to be exposed each day before a commission set up to investigate corruption, so the country witnesses the consolidation of the political...

With confidence in politicians at an all-time low, it would be easy to assume criminal law-making is only ever about law and order bidding and winning elections.
For example, when it emerged that Hassan Khalif Shire Ali...

People have always been fascinated by life. We dream about revealing all its mysteries and are even searching other planets trying to find some forms of life there. Philosophies around the world have tried to define and...

This article is in the series This is research, where we ask academics to share and discuss open access articles that reveal important aspects of science. Todays piece explains how clinical trials assess drug...

Evolution is a fascinating field but can be rife with misunderstanding. One misconception is that evolution has some innate sense of direction or purpose. In reality, evolution is a mindless, plan-free phenomenon, driven...

This is an article from Curious Kids, a series for children. You can send your question to [email protected] You might also like the podcast Imagine This, a co-production between ABC KIDS listen and The...

The concept of time travel has always captured the imagination of physicists and laypersons alike. But is it really possible? Of course it is. Were doing it right now, arent we? We are all traveling into the future one...

As governments across the world crack down on torrent sites to put an end to online piracy once and for all, an interesting study has emerged from the struggle. Called Quantifying the Heterogeneous Effects of Piracy on the...

Leaked images, plot, and all sorts of information have, unfortunately, become a common thing in the gaming industry. The latest victim is the upcoming title Kingdom Hearts 3 that still has more than a month left before its...

GTA 6 is still in development at the moment and it seems Rockstar Games are mapping out where exactly they want the narrative to take place. Right now, the studio hasnt announced anything about the title and that has been...

Final Fantasy VII: Remake is speculated to hit the shelves sometime between 2020 and 2022. However, fans who have been religiously waiting for the title have been shocked that the game could very well come out as early as...

Twitter chief Jack Dorseys first visit to India had been going so well. He got to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi (an avid Tweeter with 44.5 million followers), King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan (36.8 million followers),...

Disclaimer: EconoTimes provides references and links to selected blogs and other sources of economic and market information as an educational service to its clients and prospects and does not endorse the opinions or recommendations of the blogs or other sources of information. Clients and prospects are advised to carefully consider the opinions and analysis offered in the blogs or other information sources in the context of the client or prospect's individual analysis and decision making. None of the blogs or other sources of information is to be considered as constituting a track record. Past performance is no guarantee of future results and EconoTimes specifically advises clients and prospects to carefully review all claims and representations made by advisors, bloggers, money managers and system vendors before investing any funds or opening an account with any Brokerage. Any news, opinions, research, data, or other information contained within this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment or trading advice. EconoTimes expressly disclaims any liability for any lost principal or profits without limitation which may arise directly or indirectly from the use of or reliance on such information. As with all such advisory services, past results are never a guarantee of future results.

Welcome to EconoTimes

Sign up for daily updates for the most important
stories unfolding in the global economy.